Author
Topic: Need some 440 build guidance. (Read 1167 times)

Hey guys. I am fairly new to racing and mopars in general and was looking to perhaps get pointed in the right direction or a little confirmation on the basic plan. I have been doing my learning on my 69 falcon so everything has been sbf but i have decided to sell that and my dad and i are going together to put his 70 cuda back on the road and the plan is for a 10.xx second car that will see a bit of street fun. The street fun of course not being regular cross country trips but a bit of weekend cruising and noise around town so would need to run on the 93/94 pump gas i have availavlble in my area.

The car itself is a 70 cuda, will mostly be stripped down interior with a 6 point cage, 8 3/4 rear 4.30 gear, ss spring moved in. 90/10 drag shock up front need something better on rear. Fiberglass hood. Will be looking to lighten up more aa best we can. Looking into perhaps more fiberglass as time goes on. 727 that will be getting a reverse manual vb, had a 4000 stall but was sold over the years so can buy whatever converter is best for combo as i need to buy one anyway.

Recently purchased a 67 440 shortblock that i am picking up this weekend. It is 60 over with trw forged flat tops, ly rods, forged 440 crank. Said it sits right at 10-1 with an 84cc head.

goal is to get into the 10s somewhere. Deeper the better but would be happy regardless of high, mid, or low.

have an old set of 906 heads but would prefer going the lighter route.

Been kicking around the idea of eddy rpms and victor intake and getting some porting done as a guy down the street from me does good work. Was thinking about maybe getting prosystems to work me out a carb and have been looking at the lunati voodoo solid ft cams. Is this a step in the right direction?? Nothing set in stone other than keeping the stock stroke for now and being pump gas friendly.

Need more details on the engine, it sounds like a stock spec build as it is. If the heads are stock and the cam is a little hydraulic and the pistons are decent quality and not too far in the hole I would buy a set of Trick Flow heads for it and a small to medium, solid roller camshaft. However there are too many unknowns to get this thing into the 10's without more info. The chassis sounds mostly up to the task.If the engine has quality pistons and heads are well ported with bigger valves it could be a lot easier. If the iron heads need anything at all, go directly to aftermarket aluminum.

My advice would be to NOT buy that block as you are already at the end of it's life.

The only place you can go after .60 over is to sleeve the block and that's not something you try to do with a motor you want to get into the 10 sec space. I would look for a block that is standard bore or only .30 over so you at least have some room to rebuild at least once.

To get into the 10's you will need > 700hp or thereabouts based on car weight, suspension setup, etc. Ideally you should find a really good shortblock and then get some nice aluminum heads to not only breathe but allow you to run a higher compression than an iron head. Take a look at some of the engine threads and they will give you a good idea of what you need.

The 906's i had laying around are bone stock and didnt want to use them for how heavy and want aluminum heads. All the info i have on the shortblock was the 060 trw forged six pack flat top pistons, ly rods, forged 440 crank with chromed journals. Been bored decked and honed. Had a racer brown cam before but no more. And said with 84cc heads sits on 10-1

so as it sits i dont have a cam, heads, intake, or carb. Pretty clean slate combo wise.

the eddy rpms, victor intake, voodoo solid ft cam, and prosystems carb was just an idea i threw in the air based on a few combos i seen posted in all the threads i could find in more stock stroke based 10 second runners.

Just wasnt sure if it was a good path to start with or if anyone had any other combo suggestions since with missing pretty much all of it i wasnt stuck on 1 cam or 1 set of heads or another

Only real requirements like i said were the being able to run the 94 octane pump gas as it will see the street for some weekend fun and that a stroker kit was a no go atm.

My advice would be to NOT buy that block as you are already at the end of it's life.

The only place you can go after .60 over is to sleeve the block and that's not something you try to do with a motor you want to get into the 10 sec space. I would look for a block that is standard bore or only .30 over so you at least have some room to rebuild at least once.

To get into the 10's you will need > 700hp or thereabouts based on car weight, suspension setup, etc. Ideally you should find a really good shortblock and then get some nice aluminum heads to not only breathe but allow you to run a higher compression than an iron head. Take a look at some of the engine threads and they will give you a good idea of what you need.

My advice would be to NOT buy that block as you are already at the end of it's life.

The only place you can go after .60 over is to sleeve the block and that's not something you try to do with a motor you want to get into the 10 sec space.

Genuinely curious, why would you not want to sleeve a block that is going to the 10 sec space? I've seen sleeved blocks on some pretty crazy builds (not all were v8s) so just looking for some knowledge. A lot of built turbo motors start by sleeving the block...

Genuinely curious, why would you not want to sleeve a block that is going to the 10 sec space? I've seen sleeved blocks on some pretty crazy builds (not all were v8s) so just looking for some knowledge. A lot of built turbo motors start by sleeving the block...

Did my own research... Top fuel dragsters use sleeves in their Hemi blocks. If it can handle 8,000+ horsepower I think a cylinder sleeve will do just fine in the OP's 10 second 440 build.

There are LOTS of 60 over blocks, mine included. As long as the block is fresh and sonic tested fine you are good to go I'm at 623 hp on mine with a 60 over bore. Had to go that far to get it to clean up and have the pistons seal (512 stroker). Next rebuild I will have to re-sleeve though.

I mentioned not going for a block at .60 over because it's done and you have no way to know how it's been abused to that point. Besides who wants to sleeve all 8 cylinders to move forward and not have potential problems from there on.

Top fuel dragster builds are quite a bit different than your run of the mill 440 build.